A trip to the USA is a fantastic family holiday. Flights to Los Angeles from most Australian capital cities can be picked up for around $1,000 if you watch out for specials. There are plenty of blogs and readings on things to do in Los Angeles - here are six tips from us.

Theme ParksLos Angeles is home to a number of theme parks and kids love them all. Of course there is the quintessential Disneyland and Universal Studios but another good one to try is the lesser known Knottsberry Farm. With slightly cheaper gate prices there is plenty of fun to be had here with some awesome roller coasters.

Our most recent trip included a visit to Universal Studios for the day. Many die hard enthusiasts will tell you that one day simply is not enough - but we managed to see every section and ride every ride in one day.

A great tip is to purchase your tickets online before arrival. The tickets are not only cheaper than gate prices, but they also allow early park access. We were able to enter the park at 9am for access to Harry Potter World an hour before general gate opening time. It was fantastic - we were straight on the rides and completed the Harry Potter section of the park (including two turns on the roller coaster as there was no-one else waiting) in the first hour. We were then in a great position to go on the Simpsons ride when Krusty Land opened at 10am, again with no waiting time - we were actually first in the gates! Other rides then opened at 11am and again we were first in those lines.

There is an option to purchase fast track passes - for whatever reason we picked a great day to visit as the most we waited in any line was 20 minutes for the studio tour - all the other rides we visited were under a 10 minute wait - if any wait at all. From what I have heard from others though our visit was a complete rarity and front of line passes although expensive can be worth every dollar.

Griffith ObservatoryIf you are after a great vantage point of LA the Griffith Observatory, perched high in the LA hills, is a great place to visit. There is free parking in the Greek theatre at the bottom of the hill and a shuttle bus can transfer you up to the top. The bus cost just 50c per person each way (kids were free) and run every 15 minutes. You can park at the top of the hill, but it is crazy busy and charged at $4 per hour - and you are likely still to have to walk quite a way. Alternatively, if you have some time and are after some exercise, there are walking trails to follow from the base car park up the hill.

Once up at the Observatory you will have a vast view of downtown LA and the famous Hollywood Sign. The Observatory is free to enter and there are some interesting displays inside that are focused on astronomy and the history of the location. There is also a planetarium with tickets just $7 per person.

Visit a DinerThere are lots of options for diners in Los Angeles. Milkshakes, burgers and fries are abound and there is something quintessential about sitting in a booth enjoying your free refills on your sodas. If you visit a Ruby's Diner, be sure to take advantage of their offer of not only refillable sodas but also refillable fries!

Shop at Citadel OutletsYou are bound to run into fellow Australians at this location. America is a great place for shopping if you are after brand names at heavily reduced prices. The Citadel Outlet is an outdoor mall with brands such as Coach, Gap, Nike, Calvin Klein and everything in between at heavily discounted prices. In the Nike store we picked up sneakers for $22, Shorts for $15 and t-shirts 3 for $25. And while you are shopping be sure to log into the free wifi and check for coupons at retailmenot.com Americans love coupons and this is a great site for finding even further discounts on your discounts!

See a Soccer MatchAmericans, like Australians, love their sport. On previous visits we have taken in baseball and basketball games and whilst soccer is not the first sport that comes to mind when visiting Los Angeles, we thought we would give it a try. With a FIFA mad son (check out our review of FIFA Museum in Zurich), it was a treat for him to watch the LA Galaxy in action and see one of his favourite players, Ziatan Ibrahimovic, who even scored in the match!

The stadium was located in Carson, 23kms south of downtown Los Angeles and holds 27,000 people.

Walk of FameA trip to Los Angeles is not complete without a visit to the walk of fame. A strip of stars on the sidewalk commemorating some of the finest movie and music celebrities to make it big in Hollywood. The area is not really Los Angeles finest, it is quite dirty, a fair number of homeless with signs looking for money and just a bit of a seedy part of town. We walked the strip and took some photos, visited the Chinese theatre and saw the hand prints and signatures and then left. There are plenty of cheesy souvenir stores and overpriced restaurants but not somewhere we spent a lot of time. It is one of those bucket list places that did not quite live up to expectations for us.

Accommodation Tip We hired a car and stayed at the Lexon Hotel North Hollywood. The hotel was brand new having only opened in June 2018 and so was fresh and clean. The hotel had a car park, free wifi and included a continental breakfast. Universal Studios was a $10USD Uber trip each way which worked out more economical and convenient than driving and paying for parking.

Flight TipIf you are flying domestically within the US, instead of flying from LAX airport you may want to consider Burbank Airport. We were travelling on to Seattle and flew Alaska Airlines from Burbank Airport LA. This airport is much smaller, less congested and was close to our accommodation in North Hollywood.